These numbers are a bit deceiving in some ways. Editing means 0 words (because I don’t count them, even if there are ways). That’s what happened in January, so the spike wasn’t hard to achieve. Writing more is also the reason my reading is down, but I am doing it regularly, which is the more important part (in my opinion). Exercise is up, but recent research has me think it has to go up even more. Next month I want to be closer to 7750 calories. That’s so I can hopefully make my weight goal by end of round.

Overall, I’m happy with those numbers. Even if some of it went rocky, I learned lessons and figured stuff out. Though, I still have things to figure out (like how and when I’ll get those extra 3k calories burned).

But, most of you are more interested in the past week and how I’m doing with my goals. So let me talk about those.

Outline and Write ALCHEMY
Finish 3/31 (after round ends) I should have written 11,000 words this week. I wrote 11,897.

Read MoreRead friend’s Manuscript 2/23 – 3/30 (after round ends – added 2/23) I’ve been making scheduled progress on this. If you want to know why I don’t offer to Beta/Crit when people ask, it is because I read really slow, as the data there shows. Also, only one at a time.

Be a Good ROWer
Every check-in comment on 2+ ROWer blogs that I don’t follow and as many as I can of those that I do follow. Done!

This week will be a little odd. My yoga instructor will be going on vacation (spring session starts 3/9). I’m not sure if I’ll just treadmill all week or if I’ll see what Hulu and Amazon Prime have to offer for yoga. Don’t I have a yoga VHS somewhere? I’ll figure it out! No worries. Other than that, my plan is to stick with my goals… Unless, I get a 2k word cushion (currently at 1,023) at the same time I hit 40k in the manuscript. Then I might take a day off to celebrate hitting the halfway point.

Do you track and compare?What novel writing achievements do you think should be celebrated? How?

I might be sticking with them, but I’m tweaking the fiddly bits to make the goals fit better as I go along. As I sit here missing my yoga instructor and feeling let down by my first video experience, I am tempted to put off the 3k calorie increase until next round.

Great progress so far this year, Gloria! I just started tracking my word counts for the first time this year. January was a slow month, and I wrote less in February than I was hoping to. Ideally I’d like to write 30K/month, but I’m not there yet. But writing is getting done and that’s what matters.

Have you tried using Gaiam TV for yoga/pilates/tai chi/etc.? It’s about $10/month for a subscription, but it’s basically Hulu Plus for yoga and related videos. That’s what I’ve been using–or at least, trying to use. 🙂

Be careful not to push yourself too hard and listen to yourself when you say it is time for a break. I pushed myself too far (worrying more about streaks and words than my nerves). I finally broke yesterday. I’m taking a two day break and working to figure out a good schedule for myself today. I’m close to the right one for me. I can taste it! 🙂

Before I started my classes I used to use the Gaiam stuff on Hulu. Since I used quite a bit of it already, I wanted to try out the Amazon stuff (as it was all new to me).

Good point. I’ve come a long way in establishing a writing routine that works pretty well, but in some ways I’m still discovering what works and doesn’t work for me. Taking a break now and then is good for our creativity, so scheduling in some down time between projects isn’t a bad idea.

You might have guessed it, but I'm still going to tell you. My name is Gloria Weber and I'm a writer. I bring my geeky loves to the tales I write. I live in Ohio with my two kids, one husband, and many pets. Squee!